Infrared Saunas

Strongly recommend. I think my FIR sessions were very helpful to me. I recovered a lot during that time, a real lot. But I'll echo the cautions as well: you need supervision, to know what supplements you should be taking, and important not to overdo it, and they do need to be your own personal sauna, and FIR, otherwise you risk exposing yourself to other people's toxins. Public saunas are a disaster area. One thing I did notice: on many occasions, the sweat that came out (which I wiped off with towels which eventually I destroyed) often had a really strange sickly-sweet kind of smell, but not always. The sessions where the sweat was smelly were the most beneficial I think, but also the toughest in the short term. The theory that what is happening is a detox, which some of us find very hard or even impossible to tolerate as the toxins pass through, makes perfect sense based on my experience. All of this treatment came indirectly via Dr Myhill, and I have to say, frankly, the bottom line is, it worked. Not that I'm cured - I expect I never will be - but that treatment took me from 20% to 80% functionality in the space of about a year. I was doing lots of things during that year, so I'm not certain which were crucial and which were irrelevant, but clearly I was doing something right...

I haven't used a sauna for something like 15 years. In the early 90s both ice baths and saunas were a big thing in CFS. The trouble was most had to use a public sauna, I know I did. Many of us used to make our own portable saunas, but I would have had to put mine in the middle of the loungeroom or something, as I had a very small flat, so I never bothered. Saunas did help though.

The theory at the time was less that these therapies help detox (even though they might) than that alternating cycles of heating/cooling kickstart the autonomic nervous system. I don't think that this progressed to a formal study though. So you might like to try shorter saunas with long cooldowns in between, rather than one long sauna, to see if it helps. Also keep hydrated, and never jump in a swimming pool to cool off: sudden cold after a sauna can make CFS patients pass out.

These days’ people become more and more aware about the health and beauty of the human body. As the skin is the largest organ of the body and a major eliminative channel it’s a pity but in most people, it is inactive, congested and toxic. For example such factors as sun exposure, use of synthetic clothing, bathing in chlorinated water and exposure to hundreds of chemicals as a result the skin is heavily damaged. Also taking in consideration that excessive sympathetic nervous system activity and emotions such as fear, anger, and guilt cause blood to be withdrawn from the skin, contributing to inactivity of the skin. Visiting far infrared saunas regularly can help lower elevated blood pressure and improve the elasticity of the arteries.

im going for the detox box, infrared lights.. less than 300. not 100% mcs friendly i suppose (new at mcs) .. my old one with a cabinet ended up with a strange smell. The light box can go in a bathtub, place on a piece of wood placed across the tub.. then use two tension rods to drape organic washed cotton canvas over to make a tent with sides.. then you can wash the canvas. something to sit on..

I don't really know of any health issues having a sauna in your own appartment. I have my own wooden box sauna and researched out the wood that was used as some woods can outgas. Mine comes from China and is made of Hemlock Fir.

I've not heard of anyone buying the small portable ones complain of outgassing.

Dr M's article on FIR saunas includes a UK supplier of a portable FIR sauna suitable for MCS.

That is a useful article. But one point, my wooden sauna heats up very quickly - in 10 minutes and I try and sit in it as its warming up as I then get the FIR from that.

I think one of the main reasons I bought my wooden sauna was (a) I managed to get an end of range model at a very good price (b) I can sit sidways on the bench and have my feet up if I want. I get orthostatic intolerance and even sitting for long periods can be difficult, so being able to put my feet up if I want to was a big plus for me.